Why would you recommend him to avoid bittrex ?
The fact that they had to lock accounts and ask them to verify does not make them out of the system, and if you feel you want to go ahead with an exchange that would not really bother about verification, then it is your call.
Definitely I blame them for not at least updating each of their users before the ban but you have to understand that they are being subjected to US regulations and one would just have to deal with the verification process.
Check out their twitter page and see the throngs of users who can't withdraw funds. I've been stuck waiting for an error with their verification to be corrected for 2 weeks. They are also changing policy regarding minimum trades. It is a platform that is not trying to be useful or helpful to the small fish. I only have a few hundred dollars in crypto there, and they don't give a shit about me or any of those other hundreds of outstanding tickets and people who want to make withdrawals.